Finalist for the LABC West of England Building Excellence Awards 2020

The Health and Active Living Skills Centre was a finalist in the recent LABC West of England Building Excellence Awards 2020, for the best educational building. These annual awards celebrate quality and building excellence in the delivery of outstanding construction and workmanship.

Weston College, Midas Construction Ltd and View Architects were recognised for their work to create the Health and Active Living Skills Centre, which boosts a modern learning environment for students studying courses in sport and health and social care, a full-sized 3G sports pitch, multi-purpose indoor sports hall and state-of-the-art hospital ward simulation room. The build had many considerations such as:

• Lighting design had to ensure it mitigated the light spill onto the adjacent hedgerows, due to the area being a bats commuting corridor.
• High voltage cables span above the northern end of the site.
• Wessex Water asset (rising main) runs along the eastern and southern boundaries.
• Hydro modelling took place to ascertain the storage requirements on site with attenuated flows controlled by hydrobrakes ensuring the site does not result in flooding elsewhere.
• The building aimed to, where feasible, use natural ventilation (ie sports areas) - Teaching areas made use of modular hybrid ventilators to achieve BB93 acoustic performance requirements and lower energy consumption compared to a mechanical ventilation alternative.
• The sports hall has large insulated translucent panels to provide light (normally a black box). The insulated translucent cladding provides an improved thermal performance over glass and helps diffuse the light reducing the risk of glare.

The project site was registered under the considerate constructors scheme (achieving an average score of 40/45) meaning they were independently evaluated helping to ensure they are safe and healthy environments for both the workers and the public.

Waste management strategies enabled the contractor to achieve 100% diversion of waste from landfill on the scheme. The Health and Active Living Skills Centre opened in 2019, it was the first of its kind in the region, not only for students of the college but also providing members of the public with access to modern facilities with the aim to improve the general health and wellbeing of the local community.

Read more about the Health and Active Living Skills Centre >>